


yearning distances

by blushingprince



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Homesickness, M/M, happy bday odin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 03:49:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7492389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blushingprince/pseuds/blushingprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a happy birthday fic for owain dark!<br/>it's odin's birthday but he misses home. who's better to cheer him up than laslow?</p>
            </blockquote>





	yearning distances

Odin didn’t think his birthday would pass like anything special. He was away from his homeland and mother. Yes, he had grown close to Lord Leo and Niles, but it was one of those weeks where the threads that brought them together began to escape from his mind and he dreamt of the land he was born in.

 

He lay under a tree trying to escape the pale Nohr sun. His pasty skin was left wide open in the dark mage outfit he donned here, and he’d rather not sunburn. Lord Leo had given him with nothing to attend to for the moment so he had wandered off. Who cared if it was his birthday? Memories of a blonde haired woman flooded his mind. She was full of warmth, much like the sun where came from.

 

_ “Happy Birthday, Owain!”  _ She’d probably say.  _ “Don’t look so gloomy. I’m sure it’s nicer over there.” _

 

Nohr was a nice place, huh? Even though there was battle. War was a constant wherever one went, it seemed. It was just something that his friends were plagued with. 

The royals were relatively kind, and he had been placed to serve a man he dutifully respected. 

 

Clenching the hand he used to control spells, a thought arose to his mind.  _ I have a lot of growing up to do. _

 

_ Ylisse is very far away. _

 

____

 

The poor shade of the tree Odin had chosen only did so well. A sleeping mage mumbled wistfully under the cradle of the sun’s warmth. Rough nudges to his side awoke him at once. Odin looked up bleary eyed to his fellow one eyed retainer and gave a wide smile suggesting “ _ I’m sorry for slacking off.” _

 

“It’s a rather quiet day, eh?”

 

The blonde man turned around and moved his arms around dramatically. “There’s no day that passed without thrill for Odin Dark!”

 

“So you say,” Niles elaborated. “But Milord has barely assigned us any tasks. Is it because….” 

“Does Milord have a stomach bug?” Niles asked.

 

Odin’s mouth dropped. So, no, they did not know it was his birthday. He prepared his speech again in the midst of his disappointment. “In the face of any fell beast that may be attacking our Lord I shall be sure to give swift and divine punishment!”

 

Niles looked at Odin and that wry smile on his face appeared. Odin was quite sure he knew that look, because the white haired man only gave it because he was hiding something. He raised a hand to his mouth, touching the wide grin. 

 

“Odin, this is pretty funny.”

“To what are you referring, Niles? Am I being tricked?”

 

The thief burst into laughter at Odin’s confusion. “Follow me back, will you? It’s about time we reported to Lord Leo.”

 

__________

  
  


Within the palace walls, Odin and Niles made way to Leo’s chambers. He sat there inside, only in casual clothes, with a large stack of papers and quill.

 

Leo brushed a hand through his hair and sighed, taking brief notice of his retainer’s entrance. 

 

“It seems like you’ve returned,” Leo began. “Elise wanted to meet all of us in the grand hall.”

 

“Is there a reason for this occasion, milord?” Odin was starting to feel groggy.

 

Leo flipped through the some papers and looked at him directly. “Well, it’s your birthday, right? She wants us to celebrate.”

 

The pressure and homesickness from the day began to fizzle out in an instant. He still felt it, but his heart beat lighter now, knowing that there were people here, in Nohr, for him. Somewhere far off, he would always long for Ylisse.

 

The dark mage wiped his teary eyes. The image of his mother didn’t fade from his eyes. 

 

“Something wrong, Odin? Getting emotional?” Niles teased.

 

Odin wiped his eyes once more and then. “Niles, my friend, is it bad to get emotional on such a momentous occasion such as my birth? Would you not join me?”

 

The white haired man snorted and glanced towards Leo. The blond prince placed a hand of both of their shoulders. “Let’s go, men. It’s a happy day.”

 

______

 

At the grand hall Elise had strewn about a great amount of decorations to accessorize the area. It was only when Leo and entourage actually entered the area that everyone jumped out and yelled “SURPRISE!”

 

Leo stood there, stiff as a rock, hands on his hips, eyes wide and confused. Niles began laughing so hard he was wheezing. Odin nearly went into shock and it wasn’t until Laslow waved at him that he snapped back into reality. 

Leo spoke first. “Elise, was this your idea?”

 

“Of course!”

 

The prince narrowed his eyes, scratching his head and thinking of all the criticisms in the world. Camilla and Corrin popped out alongside Elise. Oh well. This establishment was for his retainer after all.

 

Other people began to crowd the room now. It appeared that many in the army had been invited. Was Elise in charge of this all? He knew she liked parties. There was a scary amount of food piled up on those tables.

 

Leo sighed. He went back to Niles and Odin, who were now speaking to Laslow. 

 

“Happy birthday, my friend.” Laslow expressed warmly, clasping Odin’s hand. 

 

“Happy birthday, Odin.” Niles slapped Odin’s back.

 

Leo supposed that now was the time to say something, right?

 

“Odin, happy birthday. Thank you for being my retainer.” That wasn’t too bad, right?

 

“Thank you, milord.” Odin gave him an unwavering gaze.

 

The pleasantries of the party passed easily enough. People gobbled the food up and stopped to talk to Odin, who felt a little awkward that all this was for him, since he was simply a retainer in this world. 

 

By the time things were getting late, he was hoping to slip out unnoticed, still feeling a bit low, when someone brushed his shoulder.

 

_ Inigo _

 

“How goes it, Laslow?”

 

“Would you like to go somewhere else to talk?”

 

____________

  
  


They sat atop a patch of itchy grass as the skies were dyed pink with sunset. The sun dripped with orange and fell deeper into the horizon. Odin felt his hand in the grass beside Laslow’s, but it wasn’t holding his. The distance felt prickly.

 

“I noticed….you weren’t feeling well lately,” the dancer began.

“A force such as Odin Dark can’t be defeated so easily!”

 

Laslow let out a laugh. It was easy, simple. Odin loved it. He had a beautiful voice.

“But,” Laslow began, “I know something’s off.”

 

To that, Odin chose not to reply. The sunset was immensely more interesting. 

 

“Owain.”

 

All his nerves shot up at once. How long had someone called him by his name. Home. He was still so young. 

 

“Do you miss home?” 

 

Odin swallowed, with difficulty. No, don’t tear up now. You can do this. Inigo can’t see you like this. 

He didn’t realize he forgot to reply.

 

“Owain,” he called again, softly.

 

“What do I do if I say yes?”

 

Laslow didn’t respond immediately, but he turned to Odin. His eyes were bright but they looked so grieved. 

 

“I do too.”

 

Odin parted his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He was still in the darkness of sunset. A warm hand found his.

 

Laslow’s fingers wrapped around his. “We’ll go back one day.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Until then……”

 

Odin looked at him. Until then? What were the answers they had been looking for all this time?

 

The dancer hesitated, but he pressed his lips to Odin’s cheek for a moment.

 

“Oh!”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Laslow let his cheek rest on the other’s shoulder. “Do you feel any better?”

 

“The forces of evil have perished!”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun writing this I just hope everything's in character. I love both laslow and odin so much.  
> you can find me on twitter @l0rdleo  
> happy birthday owain!!!


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